Archives for February 1, 2018

‘Kane remains second on the Sabres to Eichel in goals (16) and points (36) but much of that damage was done in October and November when he was playing with Eichel. When the calendar hit Dec. 1, Kane had 12 goals and 11 assists. Since then, he has just four goals and nine assists in the last 25 games.’

‘”The thing that was concerning to me is the distance that it come from and that he’s looking at the player’s numbers when he’s going for the puck,” Housley said. “Kyle, who is a very strong player, got up right away and that was part of the ruling of the referee. But it’s good to see the NHL came forward and recognized it and fined Taylor Hall. I know that’s not part of his game but it’s still a hit that should have been a five-minute major.”‘

‘“That’s the play you’re trying to eliminate, right?” Okposo said Wednesday after the NHL fined Hall $5,000, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. “There’s no place for that.”’

‘Scoring goals can get into your head. I think it can happen when the puck is going in and also when it’s not. Kane said, “Confidence obviously helps, especially when things are going in, you’re feeling good about things and when it’s not, you’ve just got to keep your confidence because if that goes, it can really prolong things and other parts of your game can suffer too, so for me, I’m staying confident in what I can do.”’

‘Okposo was in some pain, but popped up because he doesn’t believe in laying on the ice. In my mind, that shouldn’t matter. We hate when players embellish, but the league encourages that with plays like these. Okposo said. “I don’t like that, since you were a kid you get taught don’t stay on the ice, it’s not my style, I’ve never been one to stay down, but if you stay down and get the five minute, maybe that game’s different. It shouldn’t matter if the player’s hurt or not.”’

‘”Confidence obviously helps, especially when things are going in, you’re feeling good about things, when it’s not, you’ve got to keep your confidence because when that goes it can really prolong and other parts can really start to slip,” Kane said on Wednesday. “So, for me, I’m staying confident. I know what I can do and eventually it will turn.”‘